To dissolve, submerge, and cause to disappear the political or governmental system in the economic system by reducing, simplifying, decentralizing and suppressing, one after another, all the wheels of this great machine, which is called the Government or the State. --Proudhon, General Idea of the Revolution

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

1 Comments:

The biggest lovers of the state I've encountered are either 1) very egotistical (such as the zionist professor I had to deal with) or 2) just very naive.

The nationalist statist views the state as an extension of themselves, and that's why they become so quick to both defend the tyranny and crimes of the state they are loyal to AND will constantly criticize anything bad about their state's "enemies" (especially in-country dissidents).

Those who support the state out of their naivete are those who can't imagine a stateless society, and (as you pointed out) think that humanity "needs" states governing them. They'll say or imply something along the lines of: "Humans are flawed i.e. they're naturally stupid, selfish, anti-social, and ignorant. So every system we create will be flawed. We should just stick to what we have instead of venturing into the unknown." That's such a short-sighted way of looking at the situation. The goal isn't to force humans into being "less flawed" but rather to create institutions and a system that emphasize more personal autonomy and the better aspects of human nature (if it exists at all). The state didn't exist for most of human history anyway and to think that we'd somehow start hurting each other or do stupid things without it is completely bogus (also notice how their assumptions beg the question as to whether or not our personal morality/ethics come from fear of "the stick").

Anarchism isn't a fairytale; it's a response to reality. Proudhon and Bakunin didn't write fairytales; they wrote about a very, very grim reality which is still going on. Sure enough, there's people who will deny the reality and keep worshipping the state like a secular religion.